Karaban not happy with the fan attendance

[ctbro1999]

If any other school of our caliber won back to back championships, they would be selling out no matter who they play.

Yeah, I feel like Kansas or Puke would be selling out these types of games. Whatever.

 

[ctbro1999]

I mean, LeMoyne? I've never even heard of LeMoyne.

Evidently they almost beat Syracuse in the season opener.

 

[Palatine]

It's an appropriate thing for Alex to say. On the other hand, it's the LaMoyne Dolphins. If we shot poorly instead of horribly in the first half, it is a joke of a game.

 

[Deepster]

I don’t agree with scheduling harder teams. In a blink we’ll have games against Baylor and Gonzaga then the Big East meat grinder and we have a lot of new parts to figure out. I’ll live with a weak crowd tonight to work out the rotation and early season jitters.

 

[Ports21]

Evidently they almost beat Syracuse in the season opener.

I believe they actually DID beat Syracuse a few years ago before they were even in D1.

So the ole boys in Orange know who they are!

 

[ctbro1999]

I believe they actually DID beat Syracuse a few years ago before they were even in D1.

So the ole boys in Orange know who they are!

LeMoyne....the best college bball team in upstate New York!

 

[Chin Diesel]

Pure speculation and keyboard psychiatry here......

Hurley and his staff in no way, shape or form mailed in game planning or the preparation for this game. Same for the players. They have to prep every game to go 100% and treat opponents with respect.

Us fans? Eh. We see it as one of many home games, against a low level D1 program in the middle of a work week.

There is a disconnect between the players preparation and the fans expectations and I don't think that's ever changing. I'm just surprised someone as perceptive as Karaban doesn't know and accept that reality.

 

[superjohn]

I mean, LeMoyne? I've never even heard of LeMoyne. I'm ok with the rotating local schools like Sacred Heart, Fairfield, URI, UNH, Maine but why not add Vermont if they'd play us? Tough game, sure, but would also sell out. Even the Ivies would be a bigger draw. We need to schedule better.

You've never heard of Le Moyne? They're Syracuse's Super Bowl every year.

 

[Husk1esB2B]

I went to the Saturday game vs UNH. Took me 1h20m to get to XL, this is fine on a Saturday. But it’s not possible for weekdays.. by the time I get home it’s almost midnight.

I agree w lots of comments above, schedule better games.. if it’s against Syracuse I will do it on a wed night. Or ivy schools like Yale or Columbia or Harvard also fun.. I thought we have secret games vs Harvard ?

 

[MrSec224]

It was also a nightmare getting in last night. I showed up later than I normally would but couldnt believe how slow everything was moving, from parking to ticket entry

 

[Hamms30]

I was there last night, it was pretty full. The other issue is that people buy a cheap ticket in the upper decks and then just hang out in the bar behind one hoop or the new sportsbook where there's like 50 flatscreens to watch. Why sit in the nosebleeds when you could just stand in the bar and have the same view as the last row of the 100 sections?

 

[aburks41]

Attendance was fine last night. Gampel and XL will be sold out every game after Maui

 

[MrSec224]

I was there last night, it was pretty full. The other issue is that people buy a cheap ticket in the upper decks and then just hang out in the bar behind one hoop or the new sportsbook where there's like 50 flatscreens to watch. Why sit in the nosebleeds when you could just stand in the bar and have the same view as the last row of the 100 sections?

A great point

 

[walski]

I live in Fairfield County. I often think that if I lived closer to Hartford/Storrs I would go to every game. It means leaving my kids with my wife for a night, either working from home that day and sitting in traffic or coming from my office in midtown. We all have lives, where we need to get done and prepare. Someone comparing the fans to the players and coaches who this is their entire livelihood and focus and are getting paid lots of money by the state, the school, and the fans.

Coach can game the schedule so these cupcake games allow him to learn in game and test different lineups, but for the fan we cannot disrupt our lives twice a week right now to watch a glorified practice.

If the seats were truly sold out to fans then there wouldn't be empty seats. I made sure my XL season tickets were in the hands of someone who would be there. There's obviously a huge amount of tickets that were either sold for resale purposes or instead reserved by the ticket agencies to resale.

It's going to be even worse in XL next year when many season ticket holders like me realize that Hurley wants to just schedule the competitive games on campus.

 

[Get a Job]

I literally couldn't give away tickets in section 107 yesterday.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Evidently they almost beat Syracuse in the season opener.

So it's a Canadian school?

 

[Baltic]

Yeah, I feel like Kansas or Puke would be selling out these types of games. Whatever.

 

[CTBasketball]

I mean, LeMoyne? I've never even heard of LeMoyne. I'm ok with the rotating local schools like Sacred Heart, Fairfield, URI, UNH, Maine but why not add Vermont if they'd play us? Tough game, sure, but would also sell out. Even the Ivies would be a bigger draw. We need to schedule better.

Unfortunately the emphasis is on scheduling sub 300 NET teams so we can beat them by 40 to boost our metrics.

But I agree with you. The OOC home slate has been awful, and we knew going into this year it would be awful again.

 

[TonyClifton]

I have great season tickets in XL and in Gampel....with the mandatory donation required....each seat for each game for me costs approx $250 a seat. So two people is $500 per game which is a lot to ask when your XL opponents are not that great. I was there last night, and I am at every game no matter who or when they play.....but I get why some people aren't pumped to go out on a Wed night to see Le Moyne. From my perspective the building was pretty full, the largest area of empty seats were in the student section. The school needs to do a better job getting the students down to the XL for EVERY opponent, to create a raucous environment and a true home court advantage.

 

[Baltic]

I had been a season ticket holder from 1974 - 2008 and then moved to North Carolina. I can verify that throughout that time it was very difficult to find acquaintances who were interested in attending these preseason sacrifice games, and the games were not well attended. However, when GTown, Villanova and the like were playing I was highly sought after.

Now living in North Carolina and having friends with season tickets for Duke and UNC, I can absolutely confirm they experience the same. Watch a Duke game at Cameron against one of their cupcake opponents and you will notice that the student section (which is prominently shown on TV) is not shoulder to shoulder and a significant number of attendees are obviously not students. If the cameras panned the rest of Cameron a number of vacant sears would be evident.

Same is true at The Dean Dome.

 

[jibsey]

I have great season tickets in XL and in Gampel....with the mandatory donation required....each seat for each game for me costs approx $250 a seat. So two people is $500 per game which is a lot to ask when your XL opponents are not that great. I was there last night, and I am at every game no matter who or when they play.....but I get why some people aren't pumped to go out on a Wed night to see Le Moyne. From my perspective the building was pretty full, the largest area of empty seats were in the student section. The school needs to do a better job getting the students down to the XL for EVERY opponent, to create a raucous environment and a true home court advantage.

So the yearly cost total?

 

[The Viking]

I agree with the notion of just cycling through New England state schools who we will beat anyway instead of these non descript schools where no one even knows what state they are in or even part of the country.
Playing Maine every other year may have landed us cooper Flagg (just kidding)

 

[HooperScooper]

the games are pretty much sold out. AK's post concerns how many show up.

Correct. The official boxscore says attendance of 15,684, which is a sellout. So how many people who bought tickets didn't show up?

Men's Basketball vs Le Moyne on 11/13/2024 - Box Score - University of Connecticut Athletics

The official box score of Men's Basketball vs Le Moyne on 11/13/2024

uconnhuskies.com

 

[gsmooth]

I had been a season ticket holder from 1974 - 2008 and then moved to North Carolina. I can verify that throughout that time it was very difficult to find acquaintances who were interested in attending these preseason sacrifice games, and the games were not well attended. However, when GTown, Villanova and the like were playing I was highly sought after.

Now living in North Carolina and having friends with season tickets for Duke and UNC, I can absolutely confirm they experience the same. Watch a Duke game at Cameron against one of their cupcake opponents and you will notice that the student section (which is prominently shown on TV) is not shoulder to shoulder and a significant number of attendees are obviously not students. If the cameras panned the rest of Cameron a number of vacant sears would be evident.

Same is true at The Dean Dome.

You are one of the few people that have a fan experience that includes UConn, Duke, and North Carolina. Thanks for your perspective on this. Most of the people on here think that Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky sell out and fill every seat for game against the cupcakes.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Can we just be happy that more than 5,000 people decided to spend a Wednesday night in Hartford for Le Moyne?